What the Saints, Buccaneers said about their 88-point track meet

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers posted more than 500 yards of offense in their 48-40 win against the New Orleans Saints, and players and coaches from both teams had a lot to say about the offensive explosion.

Here are some highlights:

Drew Brees, Saints QB

“The loss is disappointing. Obviously, there are some things out there on both sides of the ball that we all feel like we can improve upon and be better at. Obviously, the difference between winning and losing (is thin). I think there were some unfortunate penalties today that stopped drives for us offensively and continued drives for our defense. When you look at the final score and you get to go back and see the impact of some of those, those are significant and make the difference between winning and losing. So, maybe we can get better in some areas and just understand that if we want to put ourselves in the best position to win, we have got to fix these things.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers QB

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers QB

“It was a lot of fun to score on virtually every possession. It had nothing to do with who we were going against. You could see the confidence we had going into the game. The ball was getting spread around early. It wasn’t just the Mike Evans show out there or the DeSean Jackson show. It was everybody. Chris (Godwin) made some nice catches, O.J. (Howard), everybody. That’s fun when everybody’s getting involved.”

Dirk Koetter, Buccaneers coach

“The turnover touchdown (on Mike Gillislee’s fumble). I think that was (a turning point). We were talking on the headphones. At one point, one of the coaches said, ‘It looks like it’s going to be a trap game.’ We said on the phones right then, ‘Ok, what happens in a trap game? Turnovers are what decide it.’ That’s about what happened.”

Michael Thomas, Saints WR

“We just have to get back to work and correct our mistakes, watch the film, be honest with ourselves and take coaching in. We just have to respond and get back to playing Saints football.”